Japan’s Mimura tells markets to take yen warning ‘at face value’
Top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said Tokyo and Washington sent a “very clear” message on the yen last week and he is watching whether markets heed it. The yen spiked through 157 per dollar after his Reuters interview; Japan and the US intervened jointly on 31 July.
Japan’s top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Monday that markets should take at face value the “very clear” message Tokyo and Washington delivered last week on the yen, signalling resolve against excessive declines, Reuters reported from Tokyo.
Leaders’ message and phone talks
US President Donald Trump raised concerns about yen weakness at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday. Katayama and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also reaffirmed in Friday phone talks that the yen’s undervaluation is a matter of concern.
“Japan’s prime minister, finance minister and the US have sent a very clear message. Markets should take that message at face value,” Mimura said. “I will be watching closely whether markets will continue to take (the message) at face value.” He said he remained neither satisfied nor reassured by recent yen moves, and brushed aside talk that funding constraints could limit intervention.
Yen reaction and policy backdrop
The yen spiked after Mimura’s remarks, breaking through the 157 line to trade around 156.75 per dollar. A weak yen has lifted import costs, including fuel amid the Middle East war. The Bank of Japan raised rates this month to a 31-year high of 1.25%, but the wide US–Japan rate gap has still weighed on the currency. Japan and the US conducted a rare coordinated yen-buying intervention on 31 July.
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